Even Braves get pumped for Millwood

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Kevin Millwood finally outdid his former Cy

Young teammates, pitching his first career no-hitter to lead the

Philadelphia Phillies over the San Francisco Giants 1-0 Sunday.

Millwood, acquired from Atlanta last December, struck out 10 and

walked three to record the ninth no-hitter in team history.

His gem came on the first anniversary of the last no-hitter in

the majors, by Boston's Derek Lowe against Tampa Bay.

"It was one of those special days, and I don't plan on doing it

every time out, but it was a lot of fun,'' Millwood said.

"I noticed it in the fifth, but it was like, well, I still got

four innings to go,'' he said.

Using a sharp fastball and a slow curve, Millwood kept Barry

Bonds and the other Giants' hitters off-balance throughout the

afternoon -- and kept the crowd of 40,016 cheering at Veterans

Stadium.

Often overlooked in Atlanta, Millwood pitched behind Greg

Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.

Maddux (four), Glavine (two) and Smoltz (one) have seven Cy

Young awards among them, but none has a pitched no-hitter. The trio

has three one-hitters, two by Maddux and one by Smoltz.

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"That was cool,'' said Maddux, who watched on a clubhouse

television as Atlanta played Milwaukee at Turner Field. "I really

enjoyed it. I was probably more nervous than he was.''

Millwood retired Bonds three times, striking out the

single-season home-run king in the seventh. Bonds hit a long drive

to right that Bobby Abreu caught near the wall in the fourth.

Marquis Grissom came the closest to getting a hit, but center

fielder Ricky Ledee raced back and made a leaping one-handed catch

on his hard liner to right-center to start the seventh.

"I was just praying that Ricky would make a great play and he

did,'' Millwood said.

Grissom hit a routine fly ball to Ledee for the final out of the

game. Ledee homered for the game's only run.

Earlier in the ninth, Millwood retired pinch-hitters Neifi Perez

and Marvin Benard before walking Ray Durham on a full count.

Millwood retired 15 straight batters before the walk.

St. Louis' Bud Smith, now a Phillies' minor leaguer, pitched the

last NL no-hitter against San Diego on Sept. 3, 2001.

The Braves traded Millwood to the Phillies for catcher Johnny

Estrada in December in a cost-cutting deal.

When Grissom lofted the final fly ball, Millwood (4-1) put his

right finger up the air and held it there as Ledee made the catch.

Phillies newcomer Jim Thome was the first teammate to reach

Millwood, coming over from first base and embracing the pitcher on

the mound.

Catcher Mike Lieberthal hugged Millwood and manager Larry Bowa

pumped his fist as he ran from the dugout. But Bowa couldn't get to

Millwood as the Phillies surrounded him.

Millwood tipped his hat twice to the fans, who stood the last

two innings to root him on.

The last Phillies pitcher to throw a no-hitter was Tommy Greene

against Montreal on May 23, 1991.

Philadelphia's Terry Mulholland pitched the only other

nine-inning no-hitter in Veterans Stadium history against the

Giants on Aug. 15, 1990.

Down in Atlanta, the Braves also cheered. Maddux was charting

pitches in the clubhouse when he noticed what Millwood was doing

through the early innings.

"I had a hard time watching our game. We had the Astros on, who

we play next, and Millie throwing a no-hitter,'' Maddux said.

Said Braves manager Bobby Cox: "I saw the end of Kevin's no-no.

That was sensational. You know, he flirted with that a lot here,

through five innings.''

Ledee gave Millwood all the runs he needed with a first-inning

homer off Jesse Foppert (0-2), who made his second major league

start.

Foppert allowed one run and three hits in six innings. The

right-hander gave up five runs in the first inning of a 5-3 loss to

Pittsburgh in his first start.

Game notes

Millwood also has one career one-hitter against Pittsburgh

on April 14, 1998. ... Montreal's Pascual Perez pitched a

rain-shortened, five-inning no-hitter at the Vet on Sept. 24, 1988.

... This is the last season for the Phillies at the Vet.